Four Cents
by Pchefbeth
Summary: A fanfiction written about something completely new. My hmourous take on the characters reactions to the writers strike. Will become a major crossover piece with many other shows. Intended to be comical and about the world of fanfiction. I hope you enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- What Lies Ahead**

Mac and Stella were grim faced as they looked over the scene before them. It was the most grisly, and gruesome thing either of them had seen in all their professional working lives.

Stella finally turned her head away and closed her eyes. She just couldn't face it anymore. She felt Mac place his hand consolingly on her shoulder.

"How, Mac?" She asked out loud." How can they live with themselves?"

Mac nodded, his mouth set firmly in a determined manner that didn't bode well for anyone that stood in his way.

"We'll get through this Stella."

"How?" She asked him, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

"We'll find a way," he assured her. Then he stood and collected his thoughts. "We need to brief the team on the situation. We need to talk to them before word of this gets out. We should gather everyone up and meet in the AV lab." She didn't respond right away, so he shook her shoulder lightly and spoke her name a little louder. "Stella."

She looked up at him and took comfort in the fact that none of them was alone in this.

"It will be alright." And he nodded at her once more and went to gather the troops.

-------------

A short time later Mac stood before several concerned faces. He had found each of them doing their appointed tasks and asked them to meet him here without telling them why, but he could tell that they were suspicious enough to be concerned. '_They should be_,' he thought grimly. This was going to be rough on all of them.

Danny and Lindsay sat the closest to him. He'd caught them on their way out to lunch. Danny had protested that they were on their way to Ray's to get pizza and couldn't it wait just an hour? But Lindsay saw through Mac's facade and knew something was up, and convinced Danny to postpone their date. They sat in front of him, his hands on her shoulders, attempting to soothe one another's nerves.

He'd asked Detective Flack to join him, and then went looking for Detective Angell as well. They'd tried to be aloof about coming to the meeting but he could tell he'd piqued their interest with the lack of details. Details were what they were all about, and here he had so little to provide them with. He thought it funny how they stood next to each other but tried to look like they weren't with one another. On any other day he might have found it amusing, them trying to hide their budding interest in one another. He wondered what effect his news would have on them. Their relationship was so new that he didn't know if it could handle the shock he was about to deliver.

The remaining faces looked at him in various states between curiosity and mild alarm. Hawkes face was the most impartial of them all. Mac knew that he always kept an open mind about whatever situation he faced. He was obviously staying optimistic in the hopes of hearing news that wasn't as bad as everyone feared, but one look at Stella's face would tell even the greenest of techs that something was very wrong. Which probably explained why Adam and Kendell stood the farthest away, heads bent together already formulating a plan for whatever news they were about to hear.

The rest of the techs stood around the room in various poses, most still dressed in their lab coats as he had interrupted their work and told them to drop everything to come in here. He waited for another moment as he saw the elevator doors open and the last people he'd been waiting on from the coroner's office made a beeline towards the AV lab, Sid Hammerbeck leading the way. Mac gave him a nod when everyone had settled then stood up, put his hands on his hips, and started to deliver the news.

"Stella and I just got a report, and it's been confirmed by our own sources….The negotiations have ended, and both parties have walked away from the tables. The writers strike is going to take place effective immediately."

The room immediately was in an uproar as people's voices rang out in shock, panic, disbelief and anger.

Mac held up his hands and tried to calm the crowd down.

Flack's voice managed to carry over the din. "Mac," he bit off angrily, his eyes flashing with Irish temper. "Are you telling me that the Television Execs aren't willing to even negotiate with the writers over their requests?"

The room quieted slightly as everyone wanted to hear what Mac's response was.

"It looks that way."

There was a collective groan from the room.

"But Mac," Flack said annoyed, "Angell and I were supposed to go get coffee!"

"What about us?" Lindsay said, her own temper flaring. "Danny and I are in this limbo right now. Mac," she said with some concern, "some people aren't even sure that we're dating anymore. They think that the pool table was just a one night stand!"

"Pool table?" Flack asked curiously.

"Never you mind Donnie." Danny answered swiftly. He stood up behind Lindsay and gestured with his hands. "Mac, just put me in a room with those Television Execs for 10 minutes. I'll soften them up and get them to agree to the writers demands so fast……"

Many heads behind Danny started bobbing enthusiastically at his suggestion.

Mac shook his head at the response and tried to regain order. "Listen people, we have to handle this by the book."

"Mac, those Television Execs aren't going to be handling this by the book." Stella said gesturing her hands as she made her point, her voice growing as loud as her conviction. "They're going to try to starve those writers out and force them to come back to the table on their terms. We have to do something." She finished solemnly.

Mac shook his head. "No, we have to stay professional on this one people".

"Why?" Flack asked outraged.

The chorus of agreements behind Flack grew as comments were thrown out randomly by the crowd.

"I'm tired of constantly falling for men and finding out they're either crazy or deranged." Stella quipped.

"You think you have it bad," Detective Angell said, "at least you have a confirmed first name."

"Hey, I said your name just the other night." Flack said indignation in his voice as he turned to face her.

"No, you mumbled my name the other night. Now, no is sure whether it's Jessica or Jennifer!" she retorted angrily.

Adam's voice was also heard plaintively wailing. "But Kendell was asleep on my couch with no clothes on and I never got to find out why!"

Hawkes stood up from the chair he'd been sitting in and raised his voice to be heard above the din. "Wait a minute everyone. Mac, there's nothing that says we can't bend the rules on this one."

"What do you mean Hawkes?" Mac asked.

Hawkes turned to look at his captive audience. "What if we shook things up a little?

We're not the only show that's going to be hit with this. The fanfiction sites will keep us alive for a little while and help the fans remember that we're still out there."

"Fanfiction," Danny scoffed. These are the same people that keep pairing Lindsay with Flack, and me with Mac."

Hawkes tried to hide his grin, he himself had escaped most of the unusual pairings on the fanfiction sites. "There are a few people who are into the unconventional," he admitted, "but they can help us."

Mac nodded in agreement, "You might be on to something Hawkes. But if we're going to make this work, we're going to have to cross some lines we've never crossed before."

"What about 'by the book?'" Stella asked.

"This one's not in the book." Mac said as he formulated a plan. We're going to have to partner up-" He said and pulled up the website on the plasma and viewed the long list of TV shows. "-with all of them."

Stunned silence greeted his suggestion.

"Mac, you can't be serious." as Flack said aloud what they were all thinking. "It's just not done."

"Actually it is sometimes. They're called crossovers, and they're rare, but they are out there. Listen, if we have any hope of helping the writers end this strike on their terms, then we have to go big or go home." Mac argued. "By ourselves we can't make it happen." He nodded towards the numerous listing of shows that has fic's written about them, "but if we partner up with them we reach a larger audience."

No one answered for a moment until Danny, shifting his weight from foot to foot nervously asked, "So how would we go about starting this thing?"

"We put out feelers, find shows through common interests and find out what they're doing. We're detectives," he said. "We'll follow the evidence and see what other shows have done." He pointed to one show on the list and tapped on its name. "We'll start with them."

"But Mac," Lindsay said as she connected with the name. "They were canceled!?"

"Yeah," Mac says. "They were. But they didn't give up either. They had a movie made and still live onto this day. They've managed to stay away from the grey place folks and let's face it, with a strike every show faces that possibility. Not every show will make it out of the strike alive. Some will lose sponsors, some will get cut for funding, and some will get bumped for new reality shows."

The faces looking at Mac grew quiet and pensive, and Mac watched as more than a few people drew nearer to one another. He noticed that Stella's face was taking on that green pallor that it had earlier in his office, and that Danny had pulled Lindsay back against him and was murmuring soothing words into her ears.

"We'll find a way, and when the writers strike is over…" Mac let his sentence hang.

"We'll be back and better than ever." Hawkes finished with a satisfied grin.

Mac nodded and then began ordering his troops, preparing them for battle. "I want everyone following leads on this one. Ask questions and find out what else our audience is watching. Stella, you and I will start looking into this 'Firefly' show, and see what we can dig up."

Everyone was slow to leave the AV room, most walked out with blank faces.

Flack followed Angell out back towards their desks in homicide. He muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Angell asked. "You were mumbling again."

"I can't believe that all this is happening over four lousy cents." He muttered. Then awkwardly stuffing his hands in his pockets and sulking asked the question he'd been dreading the answer to. "So I guess our coffee date is off."

She nodded glumly, but then gave him a little bit of hope. "Unless someone else writes about it on the fanfiction site. Who knows what else they might write about us." she added.

As he watched her walking a few steps in front of him he lifted his eyes and prayed silently to whatever god and/or writer might be listening. "Irish coffee," he mouthed, "a stuck elevator…" and then after a moment added, "and maybe some of Messer's pool table?!"

_Ok, so if you caught onto all that, you might know where I'm going with this. I'm gearing up for the largest cross over 'fanfic' ever written, and its centered around what the characters of the shows reactions were to the news of the writer's strike was, not the actors. But in order to do this I need your help. I have a few shows that I can start this with, Firefly will be the next chapter to all those that missed the reference, but I don't want it to end there. I'd love some collaborators that know this show and others and can help me continue this fic. As we add a new show, we'll add the story to that Show's site as well with the same name- "Four Cents." Suggestions for possible crossovers are welcome, as are directions that they can go in. I'd also love some fresh news if anyone has it on the strike. I plan to use as many actual canon quotes in this, just turned to mean something different in context. _

_I hope you enjoyed "Chapter 1- What Lies Ahead," and will stay tuned for "Chapter 2- Serenity." _

_**Damn the Man- keep on writing!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**F****our Cents**

**Chapter 2- Firefly**

Wash sat in the pilots chair of Serenity, the firefly class cargo ship that was their home, fiddling with something in his hands. His back was to the main vid screen and he failed to notice the face that appeared in a wave.

They cleared their throat, surprising him enough that he dropped the triceratops he'd been playing with as he jumped, swiveling around in his chair.

"Wo de ma! Zoe, don't sneak up on me like- oh." he finished surprised . ."uh, Hello."

The woman on the screen was rather attractive, curly dark hair and a tall slim build. 'She must be a companion,' he thought to himself.

"I'm looking for a Captain Malcolm Reynolds." she began.

Zoe came onto the bridge out of the shadows of the bridge doors, walked over to stand behind Wash, and addressed the screen. "And you are?"

"I need to speak with him about a business proposition. Is he available?" she asked again, not answering Zoe's question.

Zoe merely stared back in silence.

Wash sat silently looking back and forth between the two women, trying to decide which was worse, ticking off the man who paid him, or the woman who slept with him and could easily kill him with her pinky. He finally decided that Mal wouldn't forgive him, while Zoe might one day, and he bounced the wave down to Mal in his room.

Zoe stood silent, contemplating the now dark screen.

"She was just a companion, Zoe." Wash said trying to cheer up his now surely mad wife. "Said she had some business with the Captain."

Zoe snorted at him. "That woman was no companion."

"Sure she was," Wash said convinced. "She spoke well, sounded educated, and was graceful and beauti-" he cut off as he saw the eyebrow on his wife's face shoot up, "if you're interested in that kind of thing."

"-and armed" Zoe finished.

He was silent under her knowing gaze for a moment before continuing. "The Captain knows what he's doing. He's not going to get caught up in any trouble."

Zoe lifted one of her eyebrows and stared back quizzically at Wash, "You do remember Saffron, right?"

Wash opened his mouth wordlessly grasping for a come back and then leaned over and flipped a switch so that they could both watch the vid feed undetected.

...

Down in his bunk Mal dozed fitfully. He was dreaming about his ship, and he could swear that it was talking to him. It kept saying his name. "Malcolm Reynolds. Captain Malcolm Reynolds?" Mal opened his eyes and awoke abruptly as he realized the voice he was hearing came from the vid screen in his room. He sat up abruptly and his covers fell away to reveal a very scar ridden and naked body. "Renci de fozu." Mal said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and tried to figure out who the hell he was looking at.

Stella Bonaserra was a veteran cop, and was rarely lost for words, but she defiantly was now. She looked at her notes for a moment uncertain and during the silence another figure walked onto the screen.

"Malcolm Reynolds?" the man asked. "We have some business we wanted to discuss with you."

Always ready for business Mal quickly threw on his shirt and pants. Wouldn't want the customer to think him slovenly.

The man on the screen ignored his state of undress and continued speaking. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor with the NYPD," and he flashed a badge.

Mal swore. "Fei fei de piyon. You're Alliance." he muttered.

Mac looked at his notes and shook his head. "No, we're not Alliance."

Mal sat up straighter, the back of his neck prickling. The men silently sized each other up for a minute. Mal had a distinct memory of the way his commanding officer used to look at him in the rebel army. He felt that gaze on him again now. The man defiantly had military training, even if he said he wasn't Alliance.

The man on screen seemed to find whatever it was he was looking for, and then nodded before he spoke. "Captain Reynolds, you don't know me. My name is Detective Mac Taylor, and this is my partner Stella Bonasera."

Mal glanced at the woman he'd first seen on the screen. She could have easily been mistaken for a companion if it wasn't for the gun and holster he noticed at her side.

"You said you had business you wanted to discuss," Mal prompted, "a little anxious to get to the point."

Mac nodded and began his story. "I'm with the New York City Police Department Crime Lab. We investigate crimes and solve them by following the evidence left at the crime scene. I believe that you and I could help one another."

...

20 minutes later, his mind whirling with possibilities, Mal turned off the vid screen, and went top side to speak with his crew. Zoe and Wash sat in the bridge arguing.

"I take it y'all were watching." he said to them both.

Wash just gave Mal an embarrassed smirk, but Zoe stood up in front of Mal, already ready for action.

"Round up the troops. Mess hall in 10 minutes." he told her.

A short time later they all sat around the dining room table. Mal took his usual spot at the head of the table as they all gathered around with their favorite beverage.

Mal glanced around at the faces gathered at the table.

River clutched her hands over her head as though she was in agony. "Universes...colliding, People, too many conflicting thoughts, places...can't go to the gray place..I can't..." she whimpered. Simon gently patted her hands and pulled her back to the table to listen to Mal.

"We've got contacts for a new job." he started off as everyone got settled. "Folks we ain't never worked with before. It seems they're in a spot of trouble, and could use our help. It seems that they're a TV show like we were and they want us to help them start the largest fanfic crossover the verse has ever seen." He took a sip of his drink before continuing. Their boss, Mac figures that by helping them out we could find ourselves some new viewers in the process."

"Those who want to help are welcome," Zoe said as she made eye contact with everyone at the table. "those who'd rather just stay out of it, are welcome to do that too."

"Good," Jayne muttered into his drink. "Don't know these people, don't want to."

Mal folded his arms across his chest. "They'll be going up against the Fox Network executives." he said quietly.

Jayne looked up and without pausing declared. "I'm in."

Mal hid a small smile behind the rim of his cup. "They'll be going up against all of the executives of the major studios. It seems that the executives refuse to meet the demands of the writers, and the writers are going on strike."

"Damn the Man." River said as if in a daze, then looked up at Mal, her eyes clear and sane as he'd seen murmured, "Keep on writing."

Mal looked down at the young fugitive and wondered where in the verse she got some of those ideas.

"Has that ever been done before?" asked Kaylee who was scrunching up her face, more than a little perplexed.

Not especially," Mal admitted, "which is why they are going to need all kinds of help." He put his cup down on the table and lifted his head to catch the eyes of each member of his crew...his family. "Somebody has to speak for these people. You all got on this boat for different reasons, but you all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Cause as sure as I know this, they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, or more they'll swing back to the belief that they can make TV...better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running. I aim to misbehave." he said finishing with a grin.

The room was silent for a moment as Mal's words took effect.

"Do we have a plan?" Simon asked the group at large.

"I could talk to Serenity," Kaylee offered, "she what she can give us."

"Good." Mal said. "We're going to need to spread out word to all our loyal browncoats to lend a hand."

Book, who had been leaning against the kitchen door, stood up and moved forward so that he could see everyone clearly. "Wash and I could spend some time sending waves and making contacts with folks. We're only in about half of the fanfics anyways. We have more than a few free hours each day that we could spend putting the word out. I'm a Shepard. I'm supposed to spread the good word," he said with a smirk.

"Here comes the 'Rayne' again," Jayne said with a groan as he looked over at River. She in turn looked back at him and cocked her head to the side as if considering...

As each crew member turned to leave Mal found himself alone with the one person who had yet to speak.

"Well Inara, this affects you too you know. We start rattling some cages and you know there will be loads of fanfics about us. Do you think you could stoop to be on my arm again?"

Inara gave him a look. "Are you ever going to wash it?" she asked him with as much sarcasm as she could muster as she brushed past him heading for her shuttle.

"I thought that's what your specialty was." Mal said trailing behind her.

"That's feet, you fei fei de piyon."

Wash and Zoe sat together in the pilots chair on the bridge listening as Mal and Inara headed back to her shuttle arguing all the way.

Wash sighed and looked up at his wife. "Are they ever going to wise up?" he asked her.

Zoe smirked at his teasing and sat in his lap. "The Captain knows what he's doing." she said with conviction.

"Now whose forgot Saffron." he muttered good naturedly, and winced as she gave him a nudge in the stomach with her elbow.

"Hey aren't you supposed to be somewhere getting drunk and trying to get over me?" he asked her.

She rested her forehead against his and took a deep breath.

Wash wrapped his arms around Zoe's waist. "Never gonna happen Lambie-toes." he assured her, and they held each other as they started to make plans.

_**A Special note that many of these lines were actually from the Firefly series and or the Serenity movie, just taken out of context and moved around. I highly encourage everyone out there who has a sense of humor to watch the pilot of this show (the real one, not the TV aired version) and get yourself hooked on firefly. **_

_**The writers strike has ended- thank god, but we are still faced with the problem of losing good and/or new shows that didn't get enough air time. Help support the cast and writers of those shows who may still be on the chopping block by helping me continue this story line. Again, anyone who wishes to write something for this story line please email me and offer your help.**_

_**Thanks also to the constant reviews on this and my other fanfics. They have been really supportive, thank you. **_


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